The present invention is generally directed to a holder for a scouring device such as a pad made of plastic or metal in the form of thin strands such as a steel wool pad which employs a gripping assembly such as two rows of oppositely directed teeth such that the holder can engage and disengage the scouring device without the user having to touch the scouring device.
Scouring devices such as steel wool pads have been used by consumers for many years. Such devices are particularly advantageous because they can remove hard to remove food products and/or stains and are easily accessible and usable by the consumer.
Scouring devices, however, do present one problem. Since the scouring devices are gripped by the hand, the plastic and/or metal strands that may comprise the scouring device are rough on the hands and may cause minor irritations which are frowned upon by the consumer.
Attempts have been made to provide a holder for a scouring device which enables the consumer to use the same without having to physically handle the scouring device during the cleaning of utensils. Such scouring devices are disclosed, for example, in Schimel (U.S. Pat. No. 2,364,319); Silver (U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,075); Gessert (U.S. Pat. No. 6,192,545); and Payton (U.S. Pat. No. 6,041,466). While such devices are capable of holding a scouring device so that the consumer need not grip the scouring device during a cleaning operation, nonetheless, such devices are disadvantageous because they are bulky, relatively expensive to manufacture and/or require the consumer to handle the scouring device in order to secure the same to the holder.
It would therefore be a significant advance in the art of providing a holder for a scouring device if the holder can grip the scouring device and release the same without the user having to handle the scouring device.
It would be a further advance in the art to provide a holder for a scouring device which is not bulky and is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and easy to operate.
The present invention is generally directed to a holder for a scouring device which enables the consumer to grip the scouring device in a manner sufficient to provide a gripping force which secures the scouring device to the holder during the cleaning operation and also enables the consumer to release the scouring device when the cleaning operation is completed without having to physically handle the scouring device during the gripping and releasing operations.
In a particular aspect of the present invention, there is provided a holder for a scouring device comprising:
a) a base;
b) a pair of opposed legs extending from the base, each leg comprising a central portion and an end portion; and
c) a gripping assembly positioned at the end of each of the opposed legs and including a gripping means movable from a first position sufficient to secure the holder to the scouring device to a second position to release the scouring device without the user having to touch the scouring device during movement from the first position to the second position.
In one particular aspect of the present invention, the gripping means is in the form of opposed rows of teeth wherein each row of teeth extend away from the other row of teeth in a manner which enables the holder to securely grip the scouring device during a cleaning operation and to readily release the same when the scouring device is to be discarded or the like.